Crowne Plaza Invitational betting outlook

Lee Kostroski is a Covers Expert. You can check out his guaranteed plays here.

This week’s PGA Tour event, the Crowne Plaza Invitational, could be the last chance for tour members to take advantage of Tiger Woods’ absence from the field. Woods was expected to be out four to six weeks and six weeks passes after this tournament.

Sergio Garcia has already made it clear how much he enjoys playing without Woods in the field. This could be the last week in a long time that the rest of the tour gets to enjoy Woods’ absence.

This weekend could be a big one for favorite Phil Mickelson (+700). Lefty is the highest-ranked golfer in the field and could make up significant ground on tour leader Woods with a win. He also has to watch his back as a bevy of competitors could pass him for second in the rankings with solid outings.

Phil Mickelson has struggled since winning the Northern Trust Open Feb. 17, posting just one top-10 finish in seven starts since. He took last week off following The Players Championship and should be recharged for this week.

Justin Leonard (+3000) plays the role of home-town favorite this week. Leonard is currently 10th in the rankings and is among the tour leaders in driving accuracy and greens in regulation. He has never missed a cut at Colonial Country Club in 14 starts, highlighted by five top-5 finishes. Ten Texans have won the Crowne Plaza since the inception of the invitational in 1946. Unfortunately for Leonard, not a single Texan has won the tourney since 1990.

The golfer with the longest history of success at Colonial CC is Kenny Perry (+1800). Seven of his last eight rounds have been phenomenal, with a final round 81 at The Players dropping him from second to 15th. Perry rebounded nicely last week to finish second at the AT&T. His solid golf could very well continue this week on a course he is very familiar with. Perry won this tournament in 2003 and 2005 and could capture his third victory this weekend.

An interesting trend has developed the last two weeks that points to Jim Furyk (+1200) as a potential champion here. Garcia took second at The Players in 2007 and came back and won the tournament this year. Ryuji Imada won the AT&T last week after finishing second in the same event a year ago. Furyk lost in a playoff to take second last year, meaning that if recent trends hold true, he could be in line for his first win of the season.

If you like betting without Woods in the field, this could be your last chance in a long time. There is a lot of value to be had so, like the golfers themselves, take advantage of Woods’ injury while you can.